Because of the flight schedule mess up back in March, I was flying out of Edinburgh and thus I planned to travel down to the city a few days early so I could do some extra visiting - well today was that day.  

The plan is to get the train in Inverurie to Aberdeen then transfer to the train to Edinburgh. With my hip still being in pain and having a large and small(er) suit case I put what I would need for just the Edinburgh section in the smaller bag so I don't have to keep digging into the large bag. Then the smaller bag can convert to a backpack so I could keep both hands free to move the larger bag. I would have to do this especially in Inverurie where I have to go up and over the train tracks ON STAIRS to get on the other side for the train. 

My train was at 1245 but there were disruptions due to a contract dispute and with a change to the schedule, I was aiming for the 1200. Mike, Elisa, and I loaded up the car at 1030 and headed out at 1045.  We arrived at the train station in plenty of time and the train pulled in around 1145 so I could get on and settled in plenty of time.

I arrived in Edinburgh in the late afternoon at Waverly Station smack dab in the middle of the city. I was glad I had reserved a hotel by the train station so I did not have far to go with my suitcases.  After settling in to my room it was time to go for a wander and find a place to have dinner.

I wandered up the close (i.e. alleyway) stairs just behind the hotel which wasn't a great for my hip but I went slow. At the top I found a few pubs and restaurants but I was interested in the The Whiski Rooms which also had a shop! I probably spoke the guy in the shop for 30 minutes about my likes and dislikes and how I was looking for something new to try. After going over a few, I splurged on a limited edition bottling from Octave because the tasting notes were so different from anything I had ever seen. Afterwards I headed into the restaurant for a wonderful dinner of venison. As I was leaving I noticed that the bar had been faced in copper so I went over and took some pictures, of course.  

I then went back to my hotel, took a very hot shower and settled in for the night.

During the 8 month long planning for this trip, one of the items I had pack was temari making supplies. Elisa has Japanophilia, as do I, and since I make temari and she does not, we thought this would be a great opportunity to show and make her a temari or two.

I assembled a basic kit of rice hulls, yarn, pins, needle, paper strips, mari thread and colored threads for the design, and 2 patterns I knew I could finish during my visit. 

​A day or two after I arrived I started making a mari by putting the hulls in a piece of cloth and wrapping with yarn and then wrapping with a pale teal. I showed Elisa how I use the paper strip and pins to mark and divide the ball. The next day I lay down the marking thread and started stitching. I did not finish the first temari until after I returned from the walk.  After the wrapped bands on a Combination 8 in red, green gold/brown was finished I started the Simple 12 kiku pattern in Pink and Purples.

The best part was when Elisa decided to take some artsy-fartsy pictures of the supplies used and of me too.

Today I am am taking care of filing my Trip Insurance claim. I took out a policy with Travelex based upon TWO independent recommendations. I almost did not do it but I am glad I did. I should get almost two-thirds of the cost of the hiking holiday back and my travel expensed back to Aberdeenshire from Grantown-on-Spey.

As a bonus round, here are a few pictures of my bruises but NOT of the big on my hip!
First - the banged up toe nail on my right foot from all the walking down hill.
Second - a big bruise on my left that started at the joint; I have no clue as to how/when I did this.
Third - a bruise on my left shoulder which probably happened during the fall and I landed on something; thankfully I did not puncture myself on any tree branches. Yes, I know it's out of focus, think of it as a bad selfie.

As to an update on the hip - it still is a dull ache. I can walk without much pain but stairs are still hard and stilling with my legs crossed with the left on top which is my normal position will result in a dull pain in the hip and down the thigh.  

Part of the Big Walk Trip has been to visit my friends Mike & Elisa as it has been 10 years since we have seen each other. Elisa and I use to run a website together and wrote about personal digital assistants a.k.a PDAs in the years before we had the smart phone or tablets.

So here I am visiting them in a little village in Aberdeenshire known as The Kirton of Auchterless. The village (not a town or city in UK terms) is just farms, houses, a small primary school, village hall, disused phonebox, and the Kirk - the church.

Having rested my hip and legs for several days we took the short walk down the road to loosen them up and to visit the Kirk to take some pictures. Some of the graves date back to the early 1800, there are earlier ones but they are so degraded you can't read the dates; then there are newer ones with just a few from during the pandemic.

If you were wondering why there have been no post since the 19th, here's why..

I left the Moray Way on the 19th of May due to an injury on Day One. The injury would have not gotten progressively worse IF I hadn't been walking 12+ miles a day for the next few days after falling.  The night of the 18th, I could barely lift my left leg due to the pain in my hip. I was able to get to a GP on the 19th and without doing an MRI which would have been a large medical expense for me, he diagnosed the issue as bursitis as a result the slip and fall onto my hip that first day due to the rain.  Now that I had a diagnosis I was told to STOP walking, take lots of ibuprofen (3 Advil is the equivalent of a prescription dose), rest and see my doctor when I got home and even have some follow up PT depending on any tests results.  At this point I called the shop elf to tell him my plans which were to rest on Thursday and on Friday take a bus from Grantown to Inverness, then the train from Inverness to Inverurie, and then a taxi from Inverurie to Mike & Elisa's.  I also called Elisa and gave then the update and my expected time of arrival in the early afternoon. I did rest and prepared my pack and overnight bag for the next day, strolled around the town and walked across the street to a great pub for dinner; afterwards I had a lovely evening in the lounge talking to the owners. On Friday all went well despite being slow to walk and having some issues standing up and walking up and down stairs with a pack and a small suitcase. 

Looking back, I will say that despite the injury I had a wonderful time even though it poured on Monday and I had issues with the trail markings. IF I had continued I knew to be more attentive to them and direction changes. 

Now I will discuss what I did right and what I did wrong.

• Training - this I did right and some wrong. All the walking really helped me get my legs use to that much movement. What I did wrong was not hitting that 12+ mile training walk nor being prepared for the large hills I went up and down. IF I had walked on a treadmill with inclines, I could have gotten that training in and been better prepared.
• Clothing/Boots - I was properly clothed as it was cool and raining especially that first day so that was what I did right. My boots kept my feet dry; the Gore-Tex rain jacket and pants were well worth the money; my walking leggings also were of the correct weight so they kept my leg warm but not hot as did my REI super wool mid-layer long sleeve, 3/4 zip pull over.  What was kinda wrong? I did need the shorts I brought though maybe in July or August I might have used them.  I did not use the base layer clothing but if it had been cooler I certainly would have and that Puffy jacket I got from L.L. Bean was perfect in the mornings when it was very cool and until I warmed up. Then there is the black toenail; was it the boots being to small? My socks that day being too thick?? The steep downhills? Or all of it, who knows but it happened and so I am moving on and not worrying about it.
• Backpack - after seeing what others were using, my initial thoughts about it being too big (and thus I filled it with too much stuff) might be justified as everyone else I saw (5 other people) had about 35 L packs and mine was a 44 L. BUT it worked brilliantly and I have no regrets about trying 2 others to get a good fitting one and not settling for something that kinda worked.
• Food and Cook Stove - mostly wrong but some correct. I planned and purchased food to eat on the trail and even planned for snacks because I was afraid I would not be able to either purchase food in each town, easily or if I ordered lunch to go from the B&B it would not be adequate in terms of caloric need. Again after talking to other hikers and seeing what I had, I could have or should have done this. Additionally NONE OF THEM carried a stove for a hot lunch or beverage along the way; for a hot cuppa they had thermos' which I had thought of but decided at the last moment not to do. Then there was the rainy day - I really could have used a hot lunch that day but between the rain and wind and falling behind timewise, did not stop to cook and proceeded to snack all day. On the second day, I stopped for a nice lunch in Aberlour. Carrying the snacks was the correct thing to do, planning to cook lunch on the trail, not so much.
• Hiking/Walking Pole - THIS I DID RIGHT. I almost did not bring it as I was not enjoying walking with it during my training but this pole really did help especially when I needed to stabilize. Two would have been better and I understand why.
• First Aid Kit - I got this mostly right. I did not get blisters but was prepared and one of the women that I met on the trail had some baddies; I gave her some of my mole skin (she had not heard of it before) which really helped her. Overall I had the right stuff incase I did get a cut but I had too much of everything except for the ibuprofen and the topical lidocaine cream.
• Electronics - The phone with the GPS and the GPX trail maps was brilliant except that the screen would go wonky in the rain.  Note: I did have maps and a compass too. When I was deep in the wood and had no cellular service I did put it in airplane mode to save the battery. When my phone battery got down to 50 % I would plug it into the battery bank with internal solar charger I had and it would get topped up; the charger could last more than a day of walking but I did top it up every evening. The other electronics I had with me, in the pack was a small android tablet which I used for email and writing blog posts each night but I have to say that I hate the app for writing the posts and it is not as fully featured as using a full blown web browser and it would crash and close and not have saved what I was working on many times.

So what's my final assessment?
I am very very glad I did it. I set a hard challenge for myself and in my opinion did fantastic.
Will I or would I do it again? Yes, but not that section of the Speyside Way; I would like to come back someday and finish the Moray Way but not right now as I need to heal and do some hiking in the USA.

I have 1 more week here in northern Scotland then I head to Edinburgh before returning home. 
​
A picture of the Moo and Blue (beef and stilton blue cheese) pie and chips I had for dinner. Scotch not shown ;-)

Grantown-on-Spey to Dava 8 miles / 13 km
Nope, didn't do it. As a matter of fact I made the hard decision to not walk the rest.

Why?

1. Today I was again/still very sore in my thighs, some pain in my left calf and then there is the bruise on my hip; its turning a lovely shade of puce with hints of yellow along the edges.
2. So could I do this for 5 more days? I think not, not without really hurting at the end.

​I am ok with this decision. I am quite proud of what I have done as well. My fellow walkers, that I keep meeting up with, are also saying that this is harder than they expected.

So tomorrow I am getting a bus to Inverness and then a train to Inverurie and then another bus to the wilds of Aberdeenshire.

​I did spend part off the day wandering the town, taking in the local museum; Grantown was an early planned town to better the living conditions of the tenant farmers which of course would result in better farm yield and more money in the pocket of Lord Grant. I did wander down the Speyside Way, which was wide and FLAT, to the river and had a wonderful relaxing time just listening and watching the water.

​Dinner was a steak and Stilton pie YUM.

Ballindalloch to Grantown-on-Spey 13 miles / 21 km
After a good dinner and convo with other walkers i was in bed and asleep by 10 pm.
The day was clear but blustery as i set off down the.path thinking that.if it stayed like this my day would be good.

​Oh how wrong I was.

Soon I was walking up hill through woods and the past cows and sheep. And up it went I to the forest; how come no matter which way you go the wind is always coming at you. My legs were a little sore and no hip pain but I could tell that i was going to loose a toenail, as it just felt odd but I knew I didn't have any blisters.

I eventually came out onto a forest road and as i started down hill I checked the map and I had missed a turn back down through the woods. I backtracked about a half mile and I keep looking for a sign post which I found laying in tall grass. Down the path I went which seemed more like a groove formed from rain. I had to divert around more downed trees that were across the path. Eventually I came to a farm and walked across fields, through gates, across streams and then in another field where I had missed ANOTHER turn, in the middle of a field??!!! Again I backtracked and a half hour later found the post in a pile of field posts and a wrecked gate; my GPS said to turn left and waaaay up the hill I saw a gate (no marker at this distance) and went toward it; at the top was a marker pointing right so I did.

Back into the woods I went, and kept on walking and eventually I was on/in another farm. I had been walking for 6 hour and should almost be to Grantown but I still had 5 miles to go. According to the maps I was close to the main road that led into town and this decided to walk the road. Using the maps I followed the trail to a farm road and then to the main road. Once there I put my safety vest on as there was no shoulder and when I saw a big truck coming, I stepped into the bushes so they could pass with out being run over. Eventually I called the B&B for a pickup as it would be another hour of walking and my legs were done, my feet hurt, my hip was aching.

Craigellachie to Ballindalloch 12 miles / 19 km

​Lets be honest, after yesterdays walk, I could not move and I was very worried i had injured my left leg. This morning I was able to walk but my quads were very sore - I wasn't out of the game yet.

After a nice breakfast of eggs, toast and smoked salmon, I headed up the road to the Speyside Cooperage to see how acorns are turned into oak casks. It was all very interesting to see the process, learn about the 4 year apprenticeship, other cooperages around the world, and the history of this cooperage.
​
Having to walk up and down stairs was not easy during the tour but todays walk was relatively flat and so I decided to see what i could do by walking the 1 mile back to the Speyside Way and go from there.

I headed south along an old railway bed, along the river where there were lots of highland cows and sheep grazing in the fields; i was doing well but I had no energy.

At about the 5 mile mark i came into Aberlour and took a break on a bench by the river and watched some fly fisherman. I went to get up and i couldn't as my quads were so sore and weak I could not lift myself up; I know I was done for the day and that walking another 7 miles, if I could, would make tomorrow even more uncomfortable.

I decided to treat myself to a nice lunch and then call the taxi afterwards. we arranged to meet at the town square in 30 minutes and soon we were off to my hotel.

I am hoping tomorrow my legs will be better, we shall see.

Fochabers to Craigellachie 13 MILES / 21 KM
Yesterday after I settled into my hotel I went for a walk around Fochabers with the desire to locate the Speyside Way. I eventually found the community paths on the Fochabers Burn (a small stream or river) known as the Intake Path which did lead me past many wild flowers as well as the river Spey and the Speyside Way. i ended up walking 3 miles

Today stared off cool and overcast so i was wearing legging and a tshirt with my mid-layer shirt and the puffy jacket.

i headed out to the Speyside Way which was road waking and soon found myself in a cul-d-sac so i checked the map and had to backtrack a half mile to where the blue GPS said the trail was; the way marker was hidden by bushes and was not easy to loacate -ok, moving on!

After about an hour i was on a dirt track and heading into woodland and passed a field of sheep and gathered some wool caught on the fences. Two women caught up with me and we walked together to Boat-o-Brig and we turned right; I was following them. After passing cows they stopped at a road junction and realized we missed the turn off A MILE back so that was 2 miles added to the day. We found the trail marker and headed up into the woods, and up we kept going for almost 6 miles. Some where in here it started raining and never.stopped; it wasn't heavy but a good drizzle with no end in sight and i got a little we trying to get my rain gear on.

​As we went into the forest there were lots of downed trees from Storm Arwn and many were being cut up fot lumber, it was stacked everywhere. The greenery and birdsong was wonderful but the muddy track was not and in my attempt to avoid i slipped and went down wrenching my leg at the groin. Eventually i had to apply a lidocaine patch buut my pace really slowed down since it was painful to walk - i may have strained my groin muscle since it hurts to lift my left leg.

Eventually I made it to my B&B but what should have taken 6 hours in good conditions turned into 7 hours of actual walking but i was out there 9 hours and walked 14.9 miles.

Time for a hot bath and aspirin
​

​Arrive at Fochabers
​Today i arrive at my starting point and to get there or here, as i am now on Fochabers, we drove north and turned west when we.got to the coast of the North Sea. Along the way we saw lots of gore, a yellow flowering bush with nasty thorns, fields of rape seed, baby new born lambs, cows, horses and wind turbines
​Then it was on to Portsoy where we had ice cream and walked around a small pond which is still called a loch watching the ducks and looking at more 100 year old trees that were blown over in Storm Arwen which had 100+ mph winds and took out whole groves of trees.

Next up was Cullen and a walk along the beach followed by a Fish and Chip supper and more walking and picture taking.

Here is a video of the bay. https://youtu.be/6YYWqtMz2C8

Then it was on to Fochaber and to check into my hotel.
Now i am off to gwt dinner and a relaxing night.

​Tomorrow i expect to be out on the trail by 8 am.